In Brief
This review petition challenging the Supreme Court's decision upholding the Rafale fighter aircraft purchase contract raised questions about mandatory FIR registration for cognizable offences and the limits of judicial review. The Court held that while review jurisdiction is available for errors apparent on the record, particularly when binding precedents are ignored, the petitioners' case ultimately failed due to Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, which requires prior governmental approval before investigating public servants for decisions taken in official capacity. Though the impugned judgment arguably overlooked the binding Lalita Kumari mandate requiring FIR registration upon disclosure of cognizable offence, the statutory bar precluded the mandatory relief sought. The review petitions were dismissed, though the Court clarified that Section 17A compliance would not preclude CBI from seeking approval and investigating according to law.
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